BBC One’s DIY SOS features Sheffield attack victim

Alex Evans

A man who was devastated by an attack has been featured on BBC One’s DIY SOS programme tonight.

The show featured Mark Burrows, aged 36, who was left paralysed after an unprovoked attack in 2012.

The design team, lead by Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, took on the task of building a self-contained apartment alongside his parents Frank and Chrstine’s home so that his parents can look after him instead of having to put him in a care home.

A statement on the show by the BBC said: “In April 2012, 35-year-old Mark Burrows had retrained to follow in his father’s footsteps as a scaffolder.

“Then, during an unprovoked attack, he fell and hit his head on the pavement, resulting in severe brain damage and paralysis. Now unable to walk, talk or feed himself, he requires 24-hour care, something his parents Frank and Christine are desperate to give him, rather than him being in a care home 15 miles away.

“With the help of flamboyant designer Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, Nick and the boys take on the task of building a self-contained apartment alongside Frank and Christine’s two-bedroom bungalow so that after two years away, Mark can at last come home.”

Mr Burrows was enjoying a night out with a friend in Leopold Street in Sheffield city centre in April 2012 when three men came his way singing football songs.

South Yorkshire Police said it is thought he made a passing remark about Sheffield United having lost the football match, to which an intoxicated Corker responded aggressively, swearing at him before punching him in the face.

Mr Burrows was rushed to hospital with head injuries and a fractured neck, and underwent complex surgery which saved his life, but was left paralysed after the incident.

Mark’s dad Frank said on the show: “He has had his life taken away from him. We want to give back as much as we possibly can. Not stuck in a bed, in a care home all his life.

“I don’t cry in front of Mark. I know he knows I cry, but I don’t want him to see it.

“We can look after him better here.”

The programme featured the presenters building the self-contained apartment, mixed with heart-rending interviews with the Wigan-based family still coming to terms with the attack, years later.